Every weekday from now until Selection Sunday (and every day in March) will feature analysis of the previous night plus a quick look at games with the potential to impact the final NCAA tournament field of 68.

DAYS UNTIL SELECTION SUNDAY

31

WEDNESDAY RISERS

Baylor: A loss at Texas Christian would have spelled disaster for the Bears. Instead, Baylor (15-9, 3-8 Big 12) cruised to a 91-58 victory, and now get a pair of top-50 teams (Kansas State and Oklahoma State) at home in the next week.

Boise State: The Broncos (16-9, 6-6 Mountain West) finally have a top-50 victory after edging New Mexico 71-70. But they’re also just 7-9 against the top 200, and their at-large hopes are faint at best.

Dayton and Richmond: Two borderline Atlantic 10 teams that beat second-division teams with relative ease. The Flyers (17-8, 5-5) turned back Rhode Island, while the Spiders (16-8, 6-3) dispatched Duquesne. Nothing to see here, just the avoidance of a bad loss.

Virginia Commonwealth: The Rams pounced on George Washington to take over second place in the Atlantic 10. Now 20-5, it would take a substantial collapse on VCU’s part to miss the tournament.

WEDNESDAY DECLINERS

Indiana: It’s getting to be about time to give up the ghost on the disappointing Hoosiers (14-10, 4-7 Big Ten), who lost at home to Penn State after the Nittany Lions’ Tim Frazier scored on a driving layup with 6.1 seconds left to secure a 66-65 victory. Oh, and Indiana led by 11 with 3:19 to go. It’s increasingly looking like the Big Ten will be six-bid territory this season.

Louisiana State: Lost at Texas A&M, which gives the Tigers (15-8, 6-5 SEC) four losses to teams outside the top 100. Not a slick move.

Massachusetts: The Minutemen almost lost at last-place George Mason a month ago. In the return game in Amherst, the Patriots finished the job with a 91-80 victory. It was the first home loss of the season for UMass (19-5, 6-4 Atlantic 10), which is no danger of missing the tournament just yet but is fast receding from the 4 and 5 seed lines.

Pittsburgh: The Panthers were a little more than four seconds away from upending Syracuse and collecting a signature victory. It didn’t happen thanks to the Orange’s Tyler Ennis. Pittsburgh’s a postseason team, and no one questions that. But its chances of securing decent seeding faded a little more Wednesday.

Stanford: Went to Washington and lost, which it really shouldn’t have done. The Cardinals (15-8, 6-5 Pac-12) would be advised not to stumble at Washington State this weekend.

THURSDAY’S GAMES OF SIGNIFICANCE

Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 4: Postponed from Wednesday, it’s still a game the visiting Commodores (13-9, 5-5 SEC) absolutely have to have against the struggling Gamecocks (8-15, 1-9).

Arkansas at Missouri, 7 (ESPN2): The Razorbacks (15-8, 4-6 SEC) go for back-to-back conference road wins, while Missouri (16-7, 4-6) really needs to start piling up victories of any kind after dropping three in a row.

St. John’s at Seton Hall, 9 (Fox Sports 1): The Red Storm (15-9, 5-6 Big East) have won five of six, starting that stretch with a defeat of Seton Hall. Avoiding a loss to the Pirates (13-11, 4-7) would keep a stain off St. John’s resume.

Colorado at UCLA, 9 (ESPN2): Worth tuning in for only because Bill Walton is calling a UCLA game. The Buffaloes (18-6, 7-4 Pac-12) would make a big statement with a victory in Westwood, too.

Minnesota at Wisconsin, 9 (ESPN): It’s not the sort of game the Golden Gophers (16-8, 5-6 Big Ten) should be expected to win, but it sure would help their profile to go to Madison and upend the Badgers (19-5, 6-5).